Kenyans are Happier than Tanzanians according to the latest global happiness index.
Despite wreaking havoc in streets and exchanging rocks and tear gas canisters with the police, Kenyans are relatively cheerier than Tanzanians.
This is according to the World Happiness Report 2023 results which leverages data from the Gallup World Poll.
Kenya scored 4.5 out of 10 in the Happiness Index. Not quite good but better than their Southern Neighbors.
Tanzania on the other hand averages a measly 3.7 out of 10.
It seems even Ugandans must be happier than Tanzanians with a score of 4.4 out of 10.
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo are sad a lot with a 3.2 score.
In fact the global happiness index finds the Nairobi residents the happiest lot compared to their fellow East Africans living in Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Malawi, south of the Tanzanian border scored 3.5
Unfortunately there were no figures available for Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
Africa
From the Index Africa remains the saddest continent in the World.
Africa averages out to a score of 4.4, and there is a lot of regional variation.
The highest score in Africa goes to the island nation of Mauritius which scores 5.9 out of 10.
In addition to Mauritius’ natural beauty and stability, there is also growing economic opportunity in the country.
Mauritius is classified as an upper-middle-income country by the World Bank, and is one of the fastest growing high-income markets in the world.
It shouldn’t however be confused with Mauritania a country located in North-West Africa which scored 4.7
South Africa the biggest economy on the continent, scored 5.3.
Nigeria which is the most populous (and loudest) managed a 5.0 score.
Like Nigeria, Mozambique down South scored 5.0
Sierra Leone with 3.1 has the lowest score of African countries that were included in the index, followed by Zimbabwe with 3.2 and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It’s worth noting, there are a few data gaps in the region, including Burundi, which is currently the poorest country in the world.
Middle East and Central Asia
The average score in the Middle East and Central Asia is 5.2, and the array of happiness scores is wider than in any other region.
Afghanistan with a shocking 1.9 score is the world’s least happy country, with its sad citizens having reported extremely low levels of life satisfaction.
Since the Taliban takeover, life has become objectively worse for Afghans, particularly women.
North America
North America’s happiness score averages out to 6.3 out of 10.
The happiest country in the region is Canada (7.0) slightly beating out the United States which has 6.9 score.
However, the scores of both countries have actually decreased from last year.
It’s difficult to pinpoint why citizens feel less satisfied, but inflation, economic uncertainty, and many other factors could play a role.
South America
South America’s average score is 5.8. Although Venezuela is the continent’s least happy country, its score actually improved from 4.9 to 5.2. That said, the ongoing humanitarian and economic crisis is not likely to instill much hope into the average Venezuelan. Over 6.8 million people have fled the struggling nation since 2014.
Europe
Europe has some of the world’s happiest countries, with an average regional score of 6.4. Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden, and Iceland repeatedly report high scores, meaning people in these countries feel extremely satisfied with their lives.
The United Kingdom on the other hand records 6.8 out of 10
Ukraine versus Russia
Despite fending off an invasion, Ukrainians saw no diminishment of their happiness year-over-year, and many are feeling resilient and purposeful in their fight for freedom. Their score is 5.1
Interestingly, Russia’s score actually increased slightly compared to last year, going from 5.5 to 5.7.
These now are the world’s happiest Nations
Where does this data come from?
Source: The World Happiness Report which leverages data from the Gallup World Poll.
Methodology: A nationally representative group of approximately 1,000 people is asked a series of questions relating to their life satisfaction, as well as positive and negative emotions they are experiencing.
The life evaluation question is based on the Cantril ladder, wherein the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for a person (a score of 10/10) and on the flipside, the worst possible life (scored as 0/10).
The main takeaway is that the scores result from self-reported answers by citizens of each of these countries.
The results received a confidence interval of 95 percent, meaning that there is a 95 percent chance that the answers and population surveyed represent the average.
Scores are averaged over the past three years in order to increase the sample size of respondents in each country.
Criticisms
Critics of the World Happiness Report point out that survey questions measure satisfaction with socioeconomic conditions as opposed to individual emotional happiness.
Also, there are myriad cultural differences around the world that influence how people think about happiness and life satisfaction.
Finally, there can be big differences in life satisfaction between groups within a country, which are averaged out even in a nationally representative group.
The report does acknowledge inequality as a factor by measuring the “gap” between the most and least happy halves of each country.
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